The sport of hunting game with bow and arrow has become quite popular in recent years and one of the biggest problems is locating game which has been wounded by an arrow. Often the wounded animal still has the strength to run and hide. This is particularly true of deer. Often a deer will run for long distances and then hide from the pursuing hunter. Late in the afternoon, at dusk, the hunter can often walk within a few feet of a wounded deer without actually seeing the animal.
Another secondary problem is that an arrow which misses its target may travel several yards beyond the target and be lost to the hunter.
A solution to this problem is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,948 which provides for a battery-powered radio transmitter placed in the head of an arrowhead. The transmitter is activated by a switch before the arrow is launched. The antenna for the transmitter is a relatively rigid metal rod which projects inside the hollow arrow shaft of wood or fiberglass. Thereby, when the arrow is dispatched it sends a continual radio signal until it is retrieved and the switch de-activates the battery-powered electrical system. The hunter carries with him a directional receiver which allows him to locate the arrow whether it be lodged in a game animal or has fallen elsewhere in the forest.
Often wounded game will dislodge the arrow or break the arrow shaft when running through the forest after it has been wounded. The transmission system of the patent is intended to continue to transmit so long as the antenna is not broken away. That could be a problem because of the rigid construction of the antenna of the patent.
Many arrows used today are not fiberglass and not hollowed out wood. Many of them are aluminum tubing and as a consequence of having aluminum tubing, the invention of the patent would not work because the transmission from the antenna described would tend to bounce off the inside walls of the aluminum shaft and would likely not be received by the receiving antenna.